The Elite Four remains mostly the same from Gold and Silver. Over the past three years since Red and Blue, a few members have left, joined, or switched places. Like in Red and Blue, you'll need a mighty team to bust through them and the Champion. However, given the different leveling scaling in Gold and Silver, you won't need a team around Level 50 this time - late Level 30s to Level 40s will suffice. Like before you can't stop to heal at the Pokemon Center or buy more items at the Poke Mart so be fully prepared going in.

Elite Four Member #1 - Will

Elite Four Member: WillSpecialty: Psychic-type

Puzzle:
Replacing Lorelei is the newcomer Psychic-type master Will. Your best bet here is a Typhlosion with Flamethrower and Thunderpunch, and you'll see why below. Will shares two Pokemon with his predecessor, Jynx and Slowbro. Leading off his team is a Xatu, which can confuse you with Confuse Ray or inflict heavy damage with Psychic. It can finish you off with Quick Attack, which always goes first, so don't let your HP get too low. Jynx is similar, but has the ability to put you to sleep via Lovely Kiss instead. It also has Ice Punch to defeat your Ground, Dragon, Flying, and Grass-types. Exeggutor, who can attach Leech Seed to your Pokemon, carries Psychic and Reflect to be annoying. Reflect will give him and Jynx a fighting chance against your strong physical moves, and make Slowbro even more tankish by doubling its already enormous defense. If you started with Typhlosion, use its Flamethrower to quickly kill off Jynx and Exeggutor. It can also bust up Slowbro and Xatu with Thunderpunch, provided the former doesn't get Amnesia up. Don't worry about Water-type moves as it doesn't carry any STAB attacks other than Psychic. The second Xatu is slightly stronger than the first but has the same set of moves so make quick work of it with Thunderpunch.

Puzzle:
The former Poison-type Gym Leader Koga left his post to take up the challenge of being an Elite Four master. Boasting three Bug-types and four Poison-types, Koga has a pretty good core. Make sure to roast Ariados quickly as it can trap you with Spider Web and proceed to set up Double Teams before Baton Passing them over to something else. It'll try to use Giga Drain to stick around for longer, but it shouldn't do that much damage. A strong Psychic-type move will finish it if you don't have Fire-type moves. Venomoth can use Toxic to bring down your HP or Psychic to hit your vunerable Fighting-types or Poison-types if you're using them. Strike back the same way you hit Ariados. Forretress can be tough to take out if you don't have Fire-type moves because of its typing and stellar defenses; with them it'll set up as many layers of Spikes it can, injurying your Pokemon on entry. To add to its annoyance factor, it can use Protect to block your moves or Explosion to take something out with it. Muk isn't that difficult to defeat with a Ground-type move, but watch out for Acid Armor if it gets it up. It, like Ariados, can boost its Evasion with Minimize. Crobat is perhaps the most irritating Pokemon due to its high speed and ability to Double Team before you can hit it; if you have an Electrode or Jolteon, hit it hard with Thunderbolt.

Puzzle:
Despite moved up in the Elite Four, Bruno still uses roughly the same team as before, switching out his first Onix for a Hitmontop lead. Hitmontop can't do much damage to you unless it uses Dig, in which case it should be Earthquaked. Should you have a weakened Psychic-type, you may wish to reconsider switching it out as Hitmontop's Pursuit will hit it beforehand plus get a damage boost. Hitmonchan has moreless the same moveset as in Generation I, the three elemental punches and a Fighting-move, though instead of Counter it now gets the priority move Mach Punch. Hitmonlee has Swagger, which doubles your Attack but leaves you confused, so consider attaching a Bitter Berry to something that can abuse that. It can hit your Ghost-types if it uses Foresight, though Fighting-type attacks will still be resisted by Gengar's Poison-typing. Hi Jump Kick will cause Hitmonlee serious recoil if it misses. Onix has two strong STAB moves in Rock Slide and Earthquake and can whip up a Sandstorm, but is otherwise harmless. Machamp hits Flying-types and defensively-weak Psychic-types like a truck with awesome coverage in Cross Chop and Rock Slide. Gyarados might be a good choice here as it resists Fighting-type moves and hurts badly Onix with Surf, just watch out for Rock Slide.

Puzzle:
The new leader of the Elite Four is Karen, who uses the elusive Dark-type. You probably haven't seen much of what Pokemon on her team can do throughout the game, so brace yourself. Vileplume and Gengar both resist Fighting-type moves, which are the only worthwhile weakness of Dark-types. Fortunately, if you have a strong Psychic-type user, they can be taken out in one or two hits. Be careful, though - Vileplume can heal itself with Moonlight and Gengar can take you with it if she uses Destiny Bond. Umbreon is annoying with a combo of Sand-Attack, Mean Look, and Confuse Ray, but if you knock it down fast enough you don't have to worry. Murkrow and Houndoom have easy to beat secondary weaknesses in Ice/Electric/Rock and Water/Ground/Rock respectively. Just be careful of Houndoom's dual STAB Flamethrower and Crunch, which can inflict serious damage if you're not paying cautious.

Puzzle:
Just look who it is! Of all the trainers that could be the champion, Lance was the obvious choice. Even so, he proves to be a formidable final test in the Elite Four challenge. Such a strong trainer has a befittingly balanced team. Using Gyarados, Charizard, three Dragonites, and an Aerodactyl, Lance doesn't hold back. Commencing the match is Gyarados, who will set off a rain storm with Rain Dance to boost its Surf and make Dragonite's Thunder never miss. Kingdra will be your best friend for the rest of the time, starting with Charizard, who has a powerful Flamethrower attack along with Wing Attack and Hyper Beam for extra coverage. Surf on Kingdra should knock it out in one hit, especially if Gyarados's rainstorm is still on the field. Aerodactyl is next and can also be taken out with Surf, though Rock Slide and Wing Attack might put a dent in your Kingdra if its slower. Dragonite is next, the first of a triumvirate Lance has with different movesets to throw you off. If either of the Level 47s come out, be careful of Thunder Wave, which can slow you down, and Twister, which can knock you out. Counter it with Blizzard or Dragonbreath if you have those moves. Kingdra shouldn't have too much trouble due to its natural bulk and the weak nature of Twister, but once the final Dragonite comes out get ready for a fight. Outrage has the raw power to knock out an entire team, and the only thing stopping it from doing so is the confusion Dragonite suffers on the second or third turn of using it. Steelix or Forretress might be able to handle the hits as Steel-types are the only thing to resist Dragon-type attacks, so consider using them. Punish the Dragonite with a strong Ice-type or Dragon-type move of your own to end the battle and claim the title of League champion.